Fixing Your Feet

About the Author

John Vonhof brings a varied background and extensive experience to Fixing Your Feet. It is the synthesis of more than 35 years of experience as a runner, hiker, and medical professional, and a never-ending quest to learn more about foot care to help athletes in extreme events. His popular website is dedicated to providing articles, resources, links, and a blog about foot care, and it serves to inform and educate athletes about all that's new in foot care and to provide foot-care advice. Other medical professionals recognize John's expertise too. In 2009, he was the lead author of a chapter on foot injuries in the textbook Expedition and Wilderness Medicine (Cambridge University Press).

Over the years, John has provided volunteer medical aid at numerous sporting events around the world, patching feet, training medical staff and interested athletes, and providing advice to thousands of athletes. His expertise has taken him to Chile, Costa Rica, Brazil, British Columbia, Canada, and many states to help on medical teams. He continues to be sought out for his expertise and experience in providing answers to foot-care questions, especially for multi-day events.

A runner since 1982, John discovered trail running and ultras in 1984. He has completed more than 20 ultras: 50Ks, 50-milers, 100-milers, 24-hour runs, and a 72-hour run. He ran the difficult Western States 100-mile Endurance Run three times and the Santa Rosa 24-Hour and 12-Hour Track Runs 12 times. In 1987, with fellow runner Will Uher, John fast-packed the 211-mile John Muir Trail in the Sierra Nevada in 8.5 days, carrying a 30-pound pack. He still runs and rides his road bike. In 1992, John changed careers, becoming a paramedic, orthopedic technician, and emergency room technician. In 2013, he retired from a position as a prehospital care coordinator at an emergency medical services agency in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Dr. Tonya Olson started her lifelong interest in foot care by riding and training horses, where she learned first-hand the truth behind the "no hoof, no horse" adage. She brings a comprehensive understanding of foot care from her experience as a runner on roads and trails, from short to ultra-distances. Her training as a physical therapist provides an understanding of wound care, physics, biomechanics, and the complexity of factors that contribute to foot issues and injuries.

Over the years, she has worked with countless runners to help them succeed in the sports they love. Ten years of living in the Pacific Northwest, running trails and working with ultra-runners, fueled her passion for working with endurance athletes of all kinds. Working with John Vonhof at the Western States 100 Endurance Run for more than 10 years has fostered a mentorship, friendship, and further development of her foot-care expertise.

Tonya lives in Saint Petersburg, Florida, where she runs Centaur Rehab, LLC, her own physical therapy practice. She is also adjunct faculty in the two-year hybrid DPT program at South College in Knoxville, Tennessee, and is pursuing a Doctorate in Education at the University of Saint Augustine for Health Sciences.